


kinda like old times

by luminousbluebells



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angel Powers (Supernatural), Angry Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Castiel/Dean Winchester One Shot, Confessions, Dean Winchester Swears, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Light Angst, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Nearly Human Castiel (Supernatural), One Shot, Power Outage, Protective Dean Winchester, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luminousbluebells/pseuds/luminousbluebells
Summary: Dean catches Cas off-guard. The bunker’s electric systems pay the price. They have no regrets.(starts off angsty, but it gets better quickly i promise!)
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 119





	kinda like old times

**Author's Note:**

> not solidly set in any particular season—maybe s10 if you squint? just cause cas happens to be low on grace. inspired by a post by @CVSTIELS on twitter :)

Dean slammed the door to the garage behind him and stormed into the bunker after Castiel. When the angel reached the library, he sighed and spun around to face the fuming hunter. 

“Do you have something you’d like to say, Dean?” he asked, raising a weary eyebrow. His shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

Dean gave him _that_ look. One Castiel had come to know very well. “You bet your ass I do, Cas, but since when do you listen to any of the shit that I have to say?”

“Dean—”

“No, how many times do I have to tell you not to do stupid shit like that? I know you’re used to being all invincible and just throwing yourself in front of me for ‘the greater good’ or whatever the fuck, but you’re not 100% right now. Hell, you’re not even 50%, man. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t even be going on hunts until we get you a grace refill.”

“Dean, I—”

“I’m not done. You can’t just keep sacrificing yourself for me, Cas! What the fuck would I have done if that bastard hadn’t missed, huh?” 

Maybe it was because Dean was so damn tired, or just cause this had been too fucking close of a call, but his typical fiery temper was quickly losing out to a less manageable emotion—one that was making his lower lip and chin tremble and his eyes burn.

“I can’t keep grieving you, Cas, I _can’t_ do it again.”

“…I know, Dean. I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t know.” His voice broke, all the vulnerability he’d been trying to hold back bursting out of him. “You don’t know how bad it gets when you’re gone.”

Cas’s expression grew pained and he looked away. Dean wiped roughly at the tear that streamed down his cheek—just another mistake he could push aside, forget about. 

He was about to just walk away when Cas spoke quietly. “I am truly sorry for causing you pain, Dean. That is the very last thing I want.” Cas struggled to meet Dean’s eyes, though all he wanted to do was hide his face. “I just can’t help prioritizing your life over mine. If I can never…" he trailed off, going distant.

“What?”

Cas shook his head minutely before replying. “…Nothing, I don’t think you’d want to hear it.”

Dean sighed exasperatedly. “Just say it, Cas.”

“Dean, I really don’t think I should—"

“Cas, just fucking say what you were going to say!”

_"Fine! If I can never be with you the way I want to, the least I can do to show you how much I care about you is keep you from getting killed, okay?!"_

Dean was shocked into silence for many long seconds. Or it could’ve been minutes, or hours—he wasn’t really sure. Cas, however, felt every single millisecond that it took for Dean’s brain to catch up with his ears. It took all his willpower not to bolt out of the room as fast as he could. His eyes stayed glued to the floor as Dean’s flicked back and forth trying to process the new information. 

Dean finally focused on Castiel. “B-be with me?” he stuttered.

“Now you can see why I didn’t want to say anything. I know you don’t want that.”

“…But y-you want—?”

“Yes.”

“But—you’re _an angel,_ I thought angels couldn’t… you know, feel _love_ like humans do.” Dean’s voice had gotten considerably quieter as that sentence had gone on, the words sounding too sappy and dramatic coming out of his mouth.

“They usually don’t,” Cas said, still looking anywhere but at the hunter across from him. “But, as many of my siblings have so poignantly put it, I seem to have a ‘crack in my chassis’ that leaves me vulnerable to such emotion.” He shifted uneasily. “I’m sorry Dean, if I were only like the rest of them this wouldn’t be a problem.”

After another quiet moment, Dean spoke again. “So you… you’re saying you want… a relationship with me,” he confirmed, still reeling. “Like a human relationship, w-with… dates, a-a-and _kissing,_ and—”

Cas sighed heavily. “Yes, Dean, I do. But please don’t drag it out like this, I know it’s foolish. I promise I’ll never bring it up again. I can leav-mmph!”

Dean had swept towards the angel and captured his mouth mid-sentence. Castiel’s lips were soft, but stayed rather still for a long moment as it was _his_ turn to process what was happening. And then, all at once, the angel started kissing back eagerly, and every light in the room flared to twice the normal brightness and the hum of the electronics that had long been white noise hummed louder, increasing in pitch, and the lights flickered out with a _crash_ as every lightbulb in the vicinity burst violently.

Dean flinched away from the kiss at the sound of shattering glass, instinctively pulling Cas tighter to him, tucking the angel’s face into his shoulder and covering as much of his head as he could with his arms as shards rained all around them. The hunter was distantly aware of the complete darkness they’d been plunged into and the electronic sigh of every wired object in the bunker shutting down, but his mind was still entirely occupied with the even more overwhelming revelation that _he’d just kissed Castiel, and the angel had kissed him back._

After a few seconds the room settled into silence, and Dean lifted his head. He loosened his grip on Cas and was pulling away slightly to brush off any glass that had settled on their clothes when he saw the glow of grace flickering in the angel’s eyes. Dean’s widened in alarm as the light faded and Cas slumped bonelessly towards him.

“Woah w-w-w-woah, hey!” Dean exclaimed, catching him. He supported nearly his angel’s full weight as he tried to get a good look at him in the dark. Cas groaned and looked back under heavy eyelids just as the bunker’s backup generator hummed to life, illuminating just the dim emergency lights that had not been blown. 

Cas seemed exhausted, totally drained and about to keel over, but not in any mortal danger; Dean knew, somehow, in his soul, that his angel’s grace was not gone forever. That he’d be all right. It would just take some time. He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and brushed a gentle thumb over Cas’s cheekbone. “Hey, hey there sweetheart, you all right?” Dean asked quietly, smiling tenderly.

Cas nodded slightly, dazed.

“Good, yeah, ‘course you are. I’ve got ya, okay?” he breathed. Glancing around the room for a second, Dean started to chuckle.

Castiel gave a tiny version of his trademark head tilt in questioning. Dean’s smile widened as he looked back at his angel. “It’s just—this is kinda like old times, huh? When you blew up a bunch of glass just trying to talk to me, and-and when you passed out on me from too much time traveling, ya know?” The corners of Cas’s mouth quirked upwards at Dean’s breathy giggling. 

“Good times,” the angel croaked.

Dean’s gaze became serious once more as he considered their situation. “I gotta get you in a bed,” he said, thinking out loud, eyes flickering around the glass-strewn library. When his brain registered how his last words sounded, a flush crept up his neck and he snapped back to look at Cas. “I-I just mean, somewhere you can rest—”

“I know,” Cas managed, straining to hold himself up with as little support as possible.

Dean found his breath again. “Can you walk?”

He ended up half-carrying Cas through the halls, glass crunching under their feet, to the first bedroom they came upon. Luckily it was far enough away from their ground zero that the uncovered lightbulb in the center of the room hadn’t shattered all over the bed but simply burned out. 

Dean divested the angel of his trench coat, tie, suit jacket, and shoes as matter-of-factly as possible and helped him to the bed. Cas flopped down unceremoniously and made a small pained noise. Dean hovered, uncertain whether to leave the room, or find a chair, or... _no._ But before he could move away, Cas reached out and caught Dean’s wrist weakly.

“Stay?”

Dean’s heart ached. How could he say no to that? “…Yeah, Cas, ‘course. I’ll go get a chair ‘n’ come right back.”

Cas’s fingers gripped just a little more tightly. “No, no… c’mere?” 

The hunter melted. _I can’t believe this is actually happening._ “Okay. Yeah. Yeah. One sec.” He tugged off his boots and shrugged off his jacket, still dirty from the earlier events of the day, and settled down next to Cas slowly, ultra-aware of the placement of all of his limbs. He made sure to give the angel a little space, determined not to take anything more than he wanted to give, but Cas scooted in close. He gripped tight to Dean’s flannel and nudged one of Dean’s sock-covered feet with his own, twining their legs together loosely.

Just when Dean thought Cas couldn’t have him wrapped around his little finger any more securely, the angel nuzzled lightly into Dean’s chest, breathing deeply. Dean lifted a hand to brush through Cas’s dark hair, its softness and the contentedness the angel was radiating only adding to the growing affection about to bubble out of Dean’s chest.

Dean had never felt happier, more loved. He felt strangely at peace; though things weren’t entirely perfect, he was certain that they _would be._ This was only the beginning.

“’m sorry for making a mess,” Cas breathed.

“What, the glass? Nah,” Dean dismissed lightheartedly. “Sure, it’ll be a pain in the ass to clean up. Sam’s definitely gonna bitch about it. But he can deal with it, and I’m just fine—hell, I’m awesome—and _you,_ Castiel, are gonna be your all-holy self again just as soon as we get you some rest and some more angel juice. And honestly, that was also maybe the best compliment anyone’s ever given me, so all in all… worth it,” he smirked.

Cas rolled his eyes, but his smile stayed put; it took only seconds for his expression to transform into nothing but pure adoration for the righteous man before him.

“If I kiss you again, you gonna pass out on me?” Dean whispered.

“Don’t think so.”

“Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed :) as always, comments bring me lots of joy so let me know what you think! i also wrote this in less than a day and didn't proofread as much as I shoulda, so lmk if i made any goofs :/


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